The present invention relates to a rotary device for mounting at intersections of a transport rail system comprising transport units. It serves for guiding the transport units to the transport rails running in any direction and for simultaneously ensuring the supply of power and of control signals to the transport units. Mounted on the transport units are, for example, lamps which are supplied with energy and possibly control signals by the transport units and thus ensure flexible and, if required, even mobile illumination of a room, for example a television studio.
Conventional lighting systems for television studios, theater stages or the like have, for example, spotlights which are mounted on a transport rail system present on the ceiling and comprising turntables and can be manually positioned on the rails. Supply boxes from which a positioned spotlight can be supplied with power and control signals are mounted at regular intervals on the ceiling. However, such an arrangement requires relatively early and manual preparation for the event for which the lighting system is to be used and makes flexible, short-term adaptation of the lighting situation more difficult.
Another system for a lighting system envisages mounting a large number of spotlights which are adjustable only in height, it being possible, depending on requirements, to use those spotlights which are located in the suitable place. Only the height of the spotlights can be freely chosen. Although this system permits flexible work, it requires large investments in expensive spotlight systems and considerably limits the number of systems from which a spotlight can be used.
Yet another system is based on a transport rail system which can be installed in the ceiling structure of a studio. Thus, a transport rail system has rails which are parallel to one another and run over the entire length of the region in which spotlights are to be used. In each case a plurality of rail sections whose direction of travel is perpendicular to the direction of travel of the rails are mounted displaceably on a pair of such rails. The spotlights are fastened to transport units which can be pushed onto the rail sections. Two rail sections on adjacent pairs of rails can then be brought into position so that they are flush with one another and a transport unit of a spotlight can be moved from one rail section to the next. In this way, a spotlight can in principle be brought to any desired position on the ceiling. however, such a system has the substantial disadvantage that the transport distances on the rail system are long and inconvenient if the lighting system has a relatively large number of spotlights which possibly also are of various design and perform various functions, since rail sections occupied by transport units hinder one another during changes of position.
It is the object of the present invention to permit a lighting system which does not have the disadvantages of the systems described above and in which the lamps can be flexibly moved even while they are in use.
The invention relates to a rotary device, namely a rotary device for mounting at intersections between stationary transport rails which are provided with contact tracks and form part of a transport rail system for conveying transport units, the rotary device having two components which are rotatable relative to one another and of which one is in the form of a pivot bearing for the other, which rotary bearing serves for fastening at the intersection, while the other is a rail support containing at least one rail section. In the device according to the invention, each rail section of the rail support is provided with contact tracks so that a transport unit present on the rail section and having a current collector can obtain energy.
Furthermore, the invention also relates to a lighting system comprising lamps for illuminating television studios, theater or concert stages or the like, wherein the lamps are provided with transport units which can be positioned on a transport rail system comprising transport rails having contact tracks, these transport units having current collectors which make contact with the contact tracks, and wherein one rotary device as described above is present at each of the intersections of this transport rail system.